Amid the din of the 2016 presidential election, more than 14,000 state-level candidates fought to claim seats in state capitals across the country. Those candidates combined to raise an unprecedented amount of money in a presidential election year.
Legislative office-seekers broke fundraising records by more than $150 million. Meanwhile, statewide office-seekers raised $100 million more than had ever been recorded in a presidential year. Fundraising records fell across the country in states both large and small. California and Illinois legislative candidates, usually among the top fundraisers, rocketed past their usual fundraising marks, while gubernatorial races in Montana and Vermont tripled average fundraising totals.
Republicans held the overall fundraising edge for the fourth straight even-year election, receiving major help from party committees and a big increase in contributions from ideological groups. Democrats were able to remain relatively close to their GOP counterparts, however, thanks in large part to organized labor.
The Institute’s analysis of the money raised around campaigns for state-level offices in 2016 includes the following notable findings:
- Candidates for state house and senate combined to break the legislative fundraising record by $150 million.
- Republican legislative candidates outraised their Democratic counterparts by 10 percent, or $55 million.
- Among general election gubernatorial candidates, Democrats led Republicans in fundraising for the first time since 2008.
- Six of twelve states with gubernatorial elections held their most expensive elections for the seat ever, in some cases by a factor of two or three.
- One in four dollars was given by a donor that contributed at least $1 million to one or more candidates that cycle.
- Party donors, labor, and ideological contributors were top interests driving the historic presidential year fundraising efforts.
- Unitemized contributions -- those that were small enough that the donor did not need to be revealed -- reached the lowest point in an even-year cycle since 2000.
In addition, the Institute produced two reports that homed in on several key factors affecting the 2016 elections: Monetary Competitiveness in State Legislative Races, 2015 & 2016 and Money and Incumbency in State Legislative Races, 2015 & 2016.
Candidates Raise Big Bucks for State Office
Fundraising among state candidates in presidential election years continued rising in 2016, driven in large part by a drastic increase in contributions to legislative candidates.
Figure 1: Total Fundraising by Candidates for State Offices, 2000–2016
https://public.tableau.com/profile/nimsp#!/vizhome/TotalFundraisingbyCandidatesforStateOffices20062014/Dashboard1
*The Institute began gathering appellate court data in 2007
Legislative Races
State legislative candidates raked in $1.17 billion in 2016, blowing past the previous high of $1.02 billion, set in 2014. The partisan split of the money was predictably in the GOP’s favor; after winning their largest share of state legislative seats since the 1920s in 2014, Republicans placed 534 more incumbents on ballots than did Democrats in 2016.1 That incumbency advantage was a major factor in Republican legislative candidates raising $55 million more than Democrats and winning 785 more seats.
Figure 2: Contributions to Republican and Democratic Legislative Candidates, by Incumbency Status, 2016
https://public.tableau.com/profile/nimsp#!/vizhome/ContributionstoRepublicanandDemocraticLegislativeCandidatesbyIncumbencyStatus2016/Dashboard1
The Republican fundraising advantage was broad and often deep. Among the 43 states with regularly scheduled legislative elections, GOP office-seekers held an overall monetary edge in 27 states. In more than half of these states, Republican raised twice as much or more than Democrats. Meanwhile, Democrats outraised the GOP in just 16 states, primarily in the Northeast. They achieved a two-to-one advantage in five states.
Candidates in two states played outsized roles in the drastic uptick: Illinois and California. In all but one even-year election cycle since 2000, California legislative candidates have received more money than their counterparts in other states. It appeared as though that trend was set to continue in 2016 until money flooded into Illinois state legislative races late, in part due to a proxy war between GOP Governor Bruce Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.2 When all was said and done, 50 candidates had raised at least $1 million, compared to the previous high of 18. Among them was Republican House Leader Jim Durkin, who received a record-breaking $19.4 million for his unopposed 2016 reelection campaign, and promptly gave most of it to the House Republican Organization and the Illinois Republican Party.3
Whereas the Illinois proxy war kept fundraising between the parties’ candidates relatively close in Illinois, California’s record-breaking year was delivered by a wave of Democratic contributions. Democratic candidates seeking seats in the California State Assembly or Senate outraised their Republican opponents by $80 million. With that funding, Democrats regained super majorities in both chambers.4
Gubernatorial Races
Twelve states held gubernatorial elections in 2016. The quarter billion dollars raised by these tickets represents a 38 percent increase over 2012. Overall, Republican candidates held a $26 million fundraising advantage. However, that advantage stems from expensive primary races and impressive fundraising by Indiana governor Mike Pence prior to his withdrawal to join Donald Trump’s presidential ticket. When narrowing the focus to fundraising among candidates that faced off in a general election, Democrats held an edge for the first time since 2008.
Figure 3: Contributions to Democratic and Republican Gubernatorial Candidates by Ticket Event, 2016
https://public.tableau.com/profile/nimsp#!/vizhome/ContributionstoDemocraticandRepublicanGubernatorialCandidatesbyTicketEvent2016/Dashboard1
Despite controlling just 18 governor’s offices nationwide, Democrats were defending 8 of the 12 seats up in 2016. Their incumbents all held firm, earning reelection in Delaware, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The party also managed to unseat the incumbent Republican governor, Pat McCrory, in North Carolina. However, the Republicans managed to flip Missouri, New Hampshire, and Vermont while holding seats in Indiana, North Dakota, and Utah, thus increasing their nationwide total to 33 governorships. That momentum has continued since the election as newly elected West Virginia Governor Jim Justice switched his party affiliation to the GOP less than one year after winning as a Democrat.5, 6
Half of the states saw their highest levels of gubernatorial fundraising ever: Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Utah, and Vermont. In multiple cases, contributions were orders of magnitude larger than the state’s average in the four elections prior. In Vermont, where gubernatorial contributions had average $2.7 million, contributions approached $9 million. The race between Montana’s incumbent governor Steve Bullock and self-funded challenger Greg Gianforte garnered nearly $12 million, nearly tripling the average fundraising for the seat. Missouri hosted the most expensive state-level race in the country as 23 candidates for governor and lieutenant governor combined to raise $87 million, approximately $50 million more than had ever been contributed to candidates for Missouri’s highest office.
Other Statewide Races
The money raised by candidates running for other statewide offices in 2016 was well above average, propelled by a record-setting attorney general race in Missouri and another Madigan-Rauner proxy race in Illinois’ special election for comptroller. All told, non-gubernatorial statewide candidates raised $117 million. It was the first time such candidates breached the $85 million threshold in a presidential year.
The overall increase was the product of a rise in contributions to both Democrats and Republicans. Democratic candidates received $55 million—a $6 million rise over the previous presidential year record. Republicans earned $58 million, a surge of $20 million over their former high water mark.
Three races surpassed $10 million. While the general election candidates in these races all received millions of dollars in contributions, the races were monetarily uncompetitive. The top fundraiser received twice as much as the next best fundraiser in each. In the Missouri attorney general contest and the Illinois comptroller race, the fundraising hauls were two and three and a half times larger than had ever been raised for the seats, respectively.
Judicial Races
Compared to the high cost of gubernatorial and legislative elections, candidates for state supreme and appellate courts had a relatively low dollar year. Supreme court candidates raised the third-lowest in an even year since 2000. Meanwhile, appellate court candidates received the lowest amount since the Institute began gathering data for the office in 2007.
Retention candidates had the steepest decline. In recent years, a handful of retention candidates raised millions of dollars in response to organized opposition, though the vast majority have foregone raising money completely. In 2016, though, there was no small group of challenged retention fundraisers. The $105,108 raised by three Tennessee Supreme Court judges represents the total amount raised by retention candidates in supreme court and appellate court races nationwide.
The trend of retention candidates raising serious cash is a recent one, likely due in part to the losses of three Iowa retention candidates in 2010. After the judges unanimously approved same-sex marriage in the state, out-of-state money poured in and they were defeated. It was the first time Iowa Supreme Court judges had ever lost a retention bid.7 Future years will tell whether this year’s absence of major retention fundraisers represents a return to pre-2010 norms or if it is merely a temporary lull.
In partisan races, Republicans fielded 14 more candidates than did Democrats, and raised $6.3 million more. The difference was especially stark in state supreme court races, where Democrats raised just $380,419 compared to GOP candidates’ $7 million. The bulk of the contributions came in Texas and Louisiana. Democrats managed to field three losing challengers in the former and no candidates in the latter.
The Funders
Some familiar interests stand atop the list of contributing sectors. Political parties, organized labor, candidates and their committees, and finance, insurance and real estate outpaced all other sectors by each donating more than $100 million to state-level candidates. These same four interests ranked somewhere in the top-five contributing sectors in both 2012 and 2014. In a few cases, sectors made major increases in their contributions as compared to previous years.
Figure 4: Contributions to State-Level Candidates, by Sector and Party, 2016
https://public.tableau.com/profile/nimsp#!/vizhome/ContributionstoState-LevelCandidatesbySectorandParty2016/Dashboard1
Party Donors
Party donors are often at the top of the contributor list in any given year, but in 2016 they took those contributions to another level. For the first time, political parties gave more than $200 million to candidates. While overall party contributions to most offices hovered around historical norms, party contributions to legislative candidates shot up by nearly 40 percent since 2014. That increase was driven in large part by party spending in Illinois. In the eight cycles prior to 2016, Illinois political parties averaged $13 million in contributions to legislative candidates. In 2016, they contributed nearly $49 million.
Had it not been for the extraordinary activity among Illinois parties, California would have drawn the most attention for its prolific contributions. Previously, party committees had invested no more than $25.5 million in any state’s legislative contests in a single year. In the last election cycle, California parties’ legislative contributions reached $34 million, surpassing their historical average by more than $13 million.
Labor
Organized labor nearly surpassed its previous candidate contribution record, despite the drastic decrease in statewide offices up for election in 2016. Again, contributions to legislative candidates broke records, and again, Illinois was at the center of the increase. The cycle brought a $28.9 million increase in labor contributions to legislative candidates from the previous high-water mark set in 2014. In Illinois alone, labor contributions rose from $12 million to $34 million. Labor had never contributed more than $20 million to legislative candidates before 2016.
Expanding to all state-level candidates, the partisan split in labor contributions is striking. Labor contributed $112 million more to Democratic candidates than to Republicans. That differential helped keep the fundraising totals for candidates of the two major parties relatively close, though Republicans maintained a fundraising edge for the fourth straight even-year election cycle. Democrats needed that boost from labor more than ever. The sector accounted for 18 percent of all contributions to Democrats—another all-time high.
Ideological Donors
Official party committees were not the only ones increasing their direct contributions to candidates. Ideological and single-issue donors provided candidates nearly $84 million. Prior, that sector had contributed as much as $70 million to candidates, but donated only $37 million in the last comparable election cycle. Unlike official party committees, ideological groups were much more likely to home in on a few key races. Taking advantage of the final Missouri elections that had no contribution limits, ideological groups poured $37 million into statewide candidates’ campaign accounts.8 Statewide office-seekers in Indiana, another state lacking contribution limits, received more than $15 million from ideological and single-issue donors.
The Republican Governors Association, often mentioned for their prolific independent spending, was the top direct contributor to candidates. The $24 million they funneled into gubernatorial coffers was the most the organization has given to candidates in a single election cycle; it included $13 million to Eric Greitens in Missouri and more than $10.6 million combined to Mike Pence and Eric Holcomb in Indiana. That compares to just $6 million contributed by its counterpart, the Democratic Governors Association.
Big Donors Bigger Than Ever
Major donors played an outsized role in 2016. Contributions by donors that gave $1 million or more to candidates in the election cycle represented a quarter of all money raised by 2016 office-seekers. Meanwhile, unitemized donations (contributions small enough to fall below the identifying donor threshold) were the lowest for any even-year election since 2000. The only year in which million-dollar contributors made up a larger share of the donor pool was 2010, when the top 20 donors alone exceeded $400 million in candidate contributions.
The prominence of million-dollar donors in 2010 was driven by wealthy office-seekers pouring more than $300 million into their own campaigns, accounting for 47 percent of all million-dollar donor contributions. In 2016, just 8 percent of major donor contributions came from self funders.
Fazit
Candidates in 2016 raised more than in any comparable year. Fundraising shattered records in many races, as million-dollar donors poured money into campaigns across the country. One of every four dollars raised by candidates was contributed by a donor that gave at least $1 million to office-seekers in the cycle. Whereas previous elections dominated by million-dollar donors saw a major influx of self-financing candidates, in 2016, party committees, ideological groups, and labor vastly exceeded their historical averages to become the primary drivers of what ended up being a historically high fundraising year up and down the ticket.
APPENDIX A: Contributions to 2016 State House Candidates
State | Democratic | Republican | Third-Party | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | $10,790 | $519,142 | --- | $529,932 |
Alaska | $1,240,402 | $1,945,495 | $332,994 | $3,518,891 |
Arizona | $2,241,619 | $3,149,503 | $5,775 | $5,396,897 |
Arkansas | $1,831,681 | $3,253,182 | $8,182 | $5,093,045 |
California | $80,887,396 | $31,678,208 | $92,152 | $112,657,756 |
Colorado | $3,959,782 | $1,881,706 | $1,877 | $5,843,366 |
Connecticut | $4,106,688 | $2,811,742 | $23,808 | $6,942,239 |
Delaware | $969,947 | $624,704 | $2,290 | $1,596,941 |
Florida | $9,528,553 | $22,951,277 | $246,069 | $32,725,899 |
Georgien | $4,193,967 | $11,846,468 | $6,933 | $16,047,368 |
Hawaii | $2,959,827 | $508,976 | $27,313 | $3,496,116 |
Idaho | $889,645 | $2,081,795 | $5,036 | $2,976,476 |
Illinois | $60,304,845 | $59,737,157 | --- | $120,042,002 |
Indiana | $3,007,782 | $8,395,306 | $14,006 | $11,417,094 |
Iowa | $5,626,007 | $8,685,475 | $55,648 | $14,367,131 |
Kansas | $1,778,061 | $3,868,727 | $14,569 | $5,661,358 |
Kentucky | $5,617,704 | $7,092,672 | $3,243 | $12,713,620 |
Louisiana | $147,434 | $50,085 | $23,967 | $221,486 |
Maine | $1,001,045 | $975,759 | $58,966 | $2,035,770 |
Massachusetts | $11,317,448 | $2,918,048 | $197,026 | $14,432,522 |
Michigan | $9,968,424 | $11,577,983 | $11,192 | $21,557,599 |
Minnesota | $4,548,469 | $4,003,535 | $355 | $8,552,359 |
Mississippi | --- | --- | $229,475 | $229,475 |
Missouri | $5,127,760 | $12,567,014 | $113,455 | $17,808,229 |
Montana | $642,629 | $868,267 | $6,426 | $1,517,322 |
Nevada | $6,053,795 | $4,652,984 | $230,353 | $10,937,132 |
New Hampshire | $299,734 | $311,171 | $42,292 | $653,197 |
New Jersey | $145,546 | $0 | --- | $145,546 |
New Mexico | $3,433,195 | $3,740,318 | $550 | $7,174,062 |
New York | $17,540,397 | $4,859,739 | $55,534 | $22,455,670 |
North Carolina | $8,003,941 | $14,070,598 | $212,960 | $22,287,499 |
North Dakota | $390,655 | $385,945 | --- | $776,600 |
Ohio | $7,700,014 | $20,208,642 | $74,811 | $27,983,467 |
Oklahoma | $3,253,818 | $7,582,060 | $30,755 | $10,866,634 |
Oregon | $10,662,230 | $10,069,287 | $239,123 | $20,970,640 |
Pennsylvania | $20,565,869 | $20,988,156 | $34,031 | $41,588,056 |
Rhode Island | $3,138,320 | $379,336 | $130,875 | $3,648,532 |
South Carolina | $1,559,902 | $3,769,503 | $6,794 | $5,336,200 |
South Dakota | $390,040 | $1,074,787 | $8,787 | $1,473,615 |
Tennessee | $3,122,794 | $8,400,083 | $71,227 | $11,594,104 |
Texas | $17,026,216 | $58,965,350 | $8,991 | $76,000,557 |
Utah | $978,426 | $3,431,931 | $2,852 | $4,413,209 |
Vermont | $498,899 | $398,621 | $63,643 | $961,163 |
Virginia | $26,571 | --- | --- | $26,571 |
Washington | $8,951,179 | $7,306,904 | $1,164,593 | $17,422,677 |
West Virginia | $3,103,479 | $2,216,624 | $13,098 | $5,333,201 |
Wisconsin | $4,065,646 | $4,747,233 | $15,516 | $8,828,395 |
Wyoming | $364,017 | $691,849 | $9,900 | $1,065,766 |
TOTAL | $343,182,592 | $382,243,349 | $3,897,445 | $729,323,385 |
*Three dashes (---) indicates no candidate of that party affiliation participated.
APPENDIX B: Contributions to 2016 State Senate Candidates
State | Democratic | Republican | Non-Partisan | Third-Party | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alaska | $437,256 | $992,215 | --- | $271,298 | $1,700,769 |
Arizona | $1,530,025 | $2,297,418 | --- | $1,000 | $3,828,443 |
Arkansas | $601,305 | $1,656,625 | --- | $0 | $2,257,930 |
California | $42,511,484 | $11,510,772 | --- | $13,800 | $54,036,056 |
Colorado | $2,148,490 | $1,339,783 | --- | $205 | $3,488,478 |
Connecticut | $3,699,972 | $2,766,378 | --- | $13,025 | $6,479,376 |
Delaware | $605,012 | $462,520 | --- | $0 | $1,067,532 |
Florida | $13,868,880 | $20,649,857 | --- | $405,234 | $34,923,971 |
Georgien | $1,423,032 | $8,029,771 | --- | $72,015 | $9,524,817 |
Hawaii | $2,061,929 | $84,434 | --- | $14,770 | $2,161,133 |
Idaho | $349,856 | $1,024,511 | --- | $0 | $1,374,367 |
Illinois | $29,146,080 | $18,772,594 | --- | --- | $47,918,674 |
Indiana | $1,291,808 | $6,791,066 | --- | $3,335 | $8,086,209 |
Iowa | $6,633,281 | $5,493,840 | --- | $22,174 | $12,149,295 |
Kansas | $1,909,974 | $4,628,949 | --- | $2,737 | $6,541,660 |
Kentucky | $1,426,656 | $1,442,214 | --- | --- | $2,868,870 |
Maine | $1,306,915 | $1,080,825 | --- | $77,109 | $2,464,850 |
Massachusetts | $6,492,030 | $1,545,515 | --- | $104,621 | $8,142,166 |
Michigan | $116,473 | $0 | --- | --- | $116,473 |
Minnesota | $4,124,967 | $3,072,148 | --- | $3,443 | $7,200,558 |
Mississippi | --- | --- | $181,373 | --- | $181,373 |
Missouri | $6,630,477 | $10,486,442 | --- | $6,807 | $17,123,726 |
Montana | $237,921 | $495,272 | --- | $3 | $733,196 |
Nebraska | --- | --- | $5,396,071 | --- | $5,396,071 |
Nevada | $4,854,054 | $2,282,034 | --- | $32,062 | $7,168,149 |
New Hampshire | $1,806,903 | $1,208,235 | --- | $9,235 | $3,024,373 |
New Jersey | $111,905 | $0 | --- | --- | $111,905 |
New Mexico | $3,701,552 | $2,118,202 | --- | --- | $5,819,754 |
New York | $19,504,963 | $21,481,161 | --- | $543,780 | $41,529,905 |
North Carolina | $4,559,280 | $12,503,727 | --- | $2,920 | $17,065,927 |
North Dakota | $203,508 | $343,788 | --- | --- | $547,296 |
Ohio | $2,321,478 | $12,594,140 | --- | --- | $14,915,619 |
Oklahoma | $1,403,733 | $4,780,170 | --- | $36,208 | $6,220,111 |
Oregon | $3,425,353 | $3,969,870 | --- | $36,159 | $7,431,382 |
Pennsylvania | $14,233,383 | $19,586,794 | --- | $5,614 | $33,825,791 |
Rhode Island | $1,650,672 | $168,802 | --- | $14,152 | $1,833,627 |
South Carolina | $2,239,494 | $7,480,408 | --- | $0 | $9,719,902 |
South Dakota | $315,736 | $680,333 | --- | $12,023 | $1,008,092 |
Tennessee | $456,007 | $6,437,229 | --- | $7,641 | $6,900,877 |
Texas | $9,903,882 | $12,847,472 | --- | $0 | $22,751,355 |
Utah | $240,034 | $2,035,228 | --- | $2,358 | $2,277,620 |
Vermont | $627,388 | $163,088 | --- | $5,002 | $795,478 |
Virginia | $342,786 | $1,355 | --- | $1,308 | $345,450 |
Washington | $3,282,439 | $5,320,352 | --- | $675,397 | $9,278,187 |
West Virginia | $2,082,130 | $1,281,121 | --- | $0 | $3,363,251 |
Wisconsin | $3,175,674 | $3,216,005 | --- | $18,986 | $6,410,665 |
Wyoming | $86,496 | $354,690 | --- | $34,762 | $475,948 |
TOTAL | $209,082,674 | $225,477,353 | $5,577,444 | $2,449,183 | $442,586,655 |
*Three dashes (---) indicates no candidate of that party affiliation participated.
APPENDIX C: Contributions to Gubernatorial Candidates
State | Democratic | Republican | Third-Party | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Delaware | $2,777,227 | $465,979 | $1,896 | $3,245,101 |
Indiana | $17,563,676 | $30,555,017 | $24,191 | $48,142,885 |
Missouri | $30,470,856 | $55,984,743 | $227,281 | $86,682,881 |
Montana | $3,284,520 | $8,582,055 | $0 | $11,866,575 |
New Hampshire | $2,285,856 | $3,053,696 | $0 | $5,339,552 |
North Carolina | $25,999,669 | $17,676,621 | $11,413 | $43,687,703 |
North Dakota | $108,251 | $2,754,299 | $3,599 | $2,866,149 |
Oregon | $5,574,133 | $3,937,316 | $5,677 | $9,517,126 |
Utah | $3,220,391 | $5,204,888 | $10,501 | $8,435,780 |
Vermont | $4,342,750 | $4,192,644 | $405,909 | $8,941,302 |
Washington | $11,553,723 | $4,258,568 | $6,647 | $15,818,939 |
West Virginia | $6,024,592 | $2,946,764 | $16,834 | $8,988,190 |
Total | $113,205,644 | $139,612,590 | $713,947 | $253,532,182 |
*Three dashes (---) indicates no candidate of that party affiliation participated.
APPENDIX D: Contributions to Other Statewide Candidates
State | Democratic | Republican | Nonpartisan | Third-Party | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | $10,892 | $876,831 | --- | --- | $887,723 |
Arizona | $561,512 | $578,426 | --- | --- | $1,139,938 |
Colorado | $211,259 | $262,565 | $58,609 | $0 | $532,433 |
Delaware | $365,163 | $30,311 | --- | --- | $395,474 |
Georgien | --- | $327,535 | --- | $0 | $327,535 |
Hawaii | --- | --- | $259,055 | --- | $259,055 |
Illinois | $3,332,236 | $9,968,440 | --- | --- | $13,300,677 |
Indiana | $1,404,357 | $2,090,880 | --- | --- | $3,495,237 |
Kansas | $55,810 | $36,361 | --- | $15,384 | $107,555 |
Louisiana | $729,799 | $592,587 | --- | --- | $1,322,386 |
Massachusetts | $755,688 | $202,789 | --- | --- | $958,477 |
Michigan | $254,040 | $49,178 | --- | $9,725 | $312,943 |
Missouri | $8,046,080 | $21,484,534 | --- | $25 | $29,530,639 |
Montana | $978,199 | $1,135,051 | --- | $54,113 | $2,167,364 |
Nebraska | --- | $77,488 | $231,074 | --- | $308,562 |
Nevada | --- | --- | $957,224 | --- | $957,224 |
New Hampshire | $787,838 | $131,979 | --- | $0 | $919,817 |
New Mexico | $863,682 | $360,360 | $2,125 | $1,226,167 | |
North Carolina | $7,633,485 | $3,721,614 | --- | --- | $11,355,099 |
North Dakota | $59,729 | $310,894 | $94,735 | $20 | $465,378 |
Ohio | --- | --- | $441,745 | --- | $441,745 |
Oklahoma | $118,531 | $670,770 | --- | --- | $789,300 |
Oregon | $5,526,307 | $2,235,618 | --- | $86,420 | $7,848,345 |
Pennsylvania | $13,595,585 | $2,714,900 | --- | $0 | $16,310,484 |
South Dakota | $12,247 | $115,400 | --- | $127,647 | |
Texas | $402,394 | $3,835,204 | --- | $128,750 | $4,366,347 |
Utah | $159,662 | $1,574,663 | $404,429 | $7,100 | $2,145,854 |
Vermont | $453,987 | $115,422 | --- | $0 | $569,409 |
Washington | $3,955,291 | $2,042,610 | $528,832 | $9,483 | $6,536,216 |
West Virginia | $4,964,594 | $2,463,862 | --- | $13,570 | $7,442,026 |
TOTAL | $55,238,364 | $58,006,270 | $2,975,704 | $326,715 | $116,547,054 |
*Three dashes (---) indicates no candidate of that party affiliation participated.
APPENDIX E: Contributions to 2016 Supreme Court Candidates
State | Democratic | Republican | Nonpartisan | Third-Party | Retention | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | --- | $262,319 | --- | --- | --- | $262,319 |
Alaska | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Arizona | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Arkansas | --- | --- | $1,729,476 | --- | --- | $1,729,476 |
Colorado | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Florida | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Georgien | --- | --- | $189,385 | --- | --- | $189,385 |
Idaho | --- | --- | $431,258 | --- | --- | $431,258 |
Iowa | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Kansas | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Kentucky | --- | --- | $488,700 | --- | --- | $488,700 |
Louisiana | --- | $2,408,179 | --- | --- | --- | $2,408,179 |
Maryland | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Michigan | --- | --- | $1,214,963 | --- | --- | $1,214,963 |
Minnesota | --- | --- | $64,879 | --- | --- | $64,879 |
Mississippi | --- | --- | $2,004,464 | --- | --- | $2,004,464 |
Missouri | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Montana | --- | --- | $789,282 | --- | --- | $789,282 |
Nebraska | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Nevada | --- | --- | $0 | --- | --- | $0 |
New Mexico | $236,991 | $227,275 | --- | --- | $0 | $464,266 |
North Carolina | --- | --- | $672,230 | --- | --- | $672,230 |
North Dakota | --- | --- | $51,052 | --- | --- | $51,052 |
Ohio | --- | $26,233 | $3,091,238 | --- | --- | $3,117,471 |
Oklahoma | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Oregon | --- | --- | $0 | --- | --- | $0 |
Tennessee | --- | --- | --- | --- | $105,108 | $105,108 |
Texas | $143,427 | $4,086,330 | --- | $1,350 | --- | $4,231,108 |
Washington | --- | --- | $1,060,942 | --- | --- | $1,060,942 |
West Virginia | --- | --- | $1,972,290 | --- | $1,972,290 | |
Wisconsin | --- | --- | $2,249,071 | --- | --- | $2,249,071 |
Wyoming | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
TOTAL | $380,419 | $7,010,336 | $16,009,230 | $1,350 | $105,108 | $23,506,444 |
*Three dashes (---) indicates no candidate of that party affiliation participated.
APPENDIX F: Contributions to 2016 Appellate Court Candidates
State | Democratic | Republican | Nonpartisan | Third-Party | Retention | Grand Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alaska | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Arizona | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Arkansas | --- | --- | $359,209 | --- | --- | $359,209 |
Colorado | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Florida | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Georgien | --- | --- | $223,017 | --- | --- | $223,017 |
Idaho | --- | --- | $0 | --- | --- | $0 |
Illinois | $826,339 | $166,479 | --- | --- | $0 | $992,818 |
Indiana | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Iowa | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Kansas | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Louisiana | $1,824,325 | $1,082,098 | --- | --- | --- | $2,906,423 |
Maryland | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Michigan | --- | --- | $426,675 | --- | --- | $426,675 |
Minnesota | --- | --- | $684 | --- | --- | $684 |
Mississippi | --- | --- | $375,059 | --- | --- | $375,059 |
Missouri | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Nebraska | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Nevada | --- | --- | $2,200 | --- | --- | $2,200 |
New Mexico | $236,680 | $214,010 | --- | --- | $0 | $450,690 |
North Carolina | $122,453 | $34,251 | $1,248,765 | $0 | --- | $1,405,469 |
Ohio | $3,394 | $11,269 | $1,139,336 | --- | --- | $1,153,999 |
Oklahoma | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Oregon | --- | --- | $13,604 | --- | --- | $13,604 |
Tennessee | --- | --- | --- | --- | $0 | $0 |
Texas | $675,638 | $1,895,349 | --- | --- | --- | $2,570,988 |
Washington | --- | --- | $103,617 | --- | --- | $103,617 |
Wisconsin | --- | --- | $5,247 | --- | --- | $5,247 |
TOTAL | $3,688,829 | $3,403,456 | $3,897,414 | $0 | $0 | $10,989,699 |
*Three dashes (---) indicates no candidate of that party affiliation participated.
- 1. National Conference of State Legislatures, “State Vote 2016”, available from http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/statevote-2016.aspx, accessed October 1, 2017.
- 2. Thomas, Charles, “‘Proxy war’ takes over Illinois political ads,” ABC 7 Chicago, November 1, 2016, available from http://abc7chicago.com/politics/proxy-war-takes-over-illinois-political-ads-/1584147/, accessed October 1, 2017.
- 3. Burgam, Calder, “Durkin Breaks Legislative Fundraising Record in Uncontested Race,” National Institute on Money in State Politics,October 2, 2017, available from https://www.followthemoney.org/research/blog/durkin-breaks-legislative-fundraising-record-in-uncontested-race, accessed October 6, 2017/
- 4. White, Jeremy B., “California Democrats got their supermajority. Now what?,” The Sacramento Bee, November 28, 2016, available from http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article117621153.html, accessed October 6, 2017.
- 5. Phillips, Amber, “West Virginia’s governor is switching parties. And Democrats just hit a new low.”, The Washington Post, August 3, 2017, available from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/03/west-virginias-governor-is-switching-parties-and-democrats-just-hit-a-new-low/?utm_term=.0e216fc5c161, accessed October 11, 2017.
- 6. While such switches are uncommon, Jim Justice was not a conventional Democrat. An Institute report on the Justice family revealed that nearly two-thirds of their political contributions from 2000 through 2016 went to Republicans.
- 7. Sulzberger, A.G., “Ouster of Iowa Judges Sends Signal to Bench,” The New York Times, November 3, 2010, available from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/us/politics/04judges.html, accessed October 12, 2017.
- 8. Stepleton, J T, “Down to the Wire: Missouri Establishes Contribution Limits,” National Institute on Money in State Politics, May 15, 2017, available from https://www.followthemoney.org/research/blog/down-to-the-wire-missouris-contribution-limits/, accessed October 13, 2017.
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